Proposed Amazonian rite centered on Christ, indigenous professor says

Delio Siticonatzi Camaiteri, a member of the Ashaninca indigenous people in Peru, and Sister Mariluce dos Santos Mesquita, a member of the Barassana people in Brazil, attend a news conference after a session of the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon at the Vatican Oct. 24. (Paul Haring/CNS)

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Addressing
concerns about a proposed Amazonian rite in the Catholic Church, an indigenous
participant at the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon called on Catholics to
soften their hearts and understand the needs of Catholics in the region.

At a synod briefing Oct. 24,
Delio Siticonatzi Camaiteri, a member of the Ashaninka people and a professor
from Peru, said that fears about the proposal are unwarranted because
indigenous people seek unity and not division.

“Do we (want to) have our own rites? Yes, we do! But
those rites must be incorporated with what is central, which is Jesus Christ.
There is nothing else to argue about on this issue! The center that is uniting
us in this synod is Jesus Christ,” he said.

Throughout the synod, members discussed the possibility
of incorporating local traditions and cultural elements in the liturgy. While
there are nearly two dozen different rites in the Catholic Church, those
critical of the proposal fear that it would introduce so-called pagan elements
into the liturgy.

Speaking to journalists at the
briefing, Siticonatzi said that he noticed those present seemed “a bit
uncomfortable” and did not “understand what the Amazon truly needs” when it
comes to establishing a new rite.

“We have our own world view, our
way of looking at the world that surrounds us. And nature brings God closer to
us. Our culture brings the face of God closer to us, in our life,” he said.

Nevertheless, he added, there
are many who are “doubtful of this reality that we are looking for as
indigenous people.”

Delio Siticonatzi Camaiteri, a member of the Ashaninca indigenous people in Peru, attends a news conference after a session of the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon at the Vatican Oct. 24. (Paul Haring/CNS)

“Do not harden your hearts!
Soften your hearts; that is what Jesus invites us to do,” he said. “We live
together. We all believe in one God! At the end of it all, we are going to be
united.”

Fr. Eleazar Lopez Hernandez, a
member of the Mexican Zapotec community and an expert on indigenous theology,
told journalists that like the members of other rites in the Catholic Church,
the Churches in Latin America also “need to be able to express our faith within
our own framework.”

“This is what the Amazonian rite
is based on,” Fr. Lopez said. “We can no longer continue living within
frameworks that are foreign to our people. This is alienation.”

The Mexican theologian said that
discussions regarding the creation of an Amazonian rite were “encouraged” by a
principle formulated by St. Thomas Aquinas: “(Quidquid) recipitur ad modum
recipientis recipitur” (“Whatever is received is received in the manner of
the receiver”).

“Our peoples had their own
religious experiences, they had theologies that gave meaning to their lives,”
he said. “When the Christian perspective arrived, they received it within those
frameworks.”

When it comes to the liturgy, he continued, Christians
have a responsibility to know the difference between “what is substantial in
the Christian perspective and what is secondary, what is cultural.”

“Pope Francis told us that it
isn’t right to think of the Christian perspective, the life of the Church,
through a monotonous and monocultural expression,” Fr. Lopez said. “The Church
is plural. We have to take back the original diversity of the Churches; united
in one faith but with distinct theological and liturgical expressions.”

Catholic News Service, serving since 1920 as a news agency specializing in reporting religion, is the primary source of national and world news that appears in the U.S. Catholic press. It is also a leading source of news for Catholic print and broadcast media throughout the world.

The Catholic Sun shares in the mission of evangelizing the Catholic faithful by providing news, information, education, a forum for discussion and guidance in matters of faith, morals and spiritual life.